In Plain Sight
by Solarmech
Summary: At the height of the Cold War, a CIA analyst discovers a threat to the United States much greater and insidious than the Soviet Union.


Conrad Peterford glanced around his office. It wasn't big or fancy, but as offices go in this building, it was good enough. The walls were painted an eggshell color, not he could see much of them. One wall was taken up by a bookshelf, two others had shelves of declassified or low security reports and files with the last wall mostly covered in citations, awards and diplomas. There were two chairs, the reddish one was getting more than a little dog eared, a small table, a large desk covered with paperwork and the surprisingly comfortable chair that he was currently seated in.

He picked up another report from the eight inch tall pile on his desk and wondered if he would have taken this job if he had realized how much reading he had to do. But the job was important and it was his to do. Next to the pile of reports was a calendar that said June 20th, 1980. One week until his wife's birthday. Still needed to get a gift for her.

There was a knock at the door and a moment later Alice leaned in. "Mr. Peterford, your 11 O'clock is here."

"Thanks Alice, send him in."

He tried to remember who the appointment was with and why, but couldn't. Before he could look at his day planner for a reminder, Bill Drake, one of the analysts in his department walked in.

Bill walked over to the good chair in front of Conrad's desk and sat down with a lot less grace than he would have liked. He was better than 80 pounds overweight and hated it. Even with all the air conditioning in Langley he still felt uncomfortable most of the time and going outside into the Virginia sun left him red faced and covered in sweat.

Conrad gave a weak smile in sympathy. Conrad didn't seem to have even an ounce of fat on him and Bill strangled a pang of jealousy.

"So what can I do for you Bill?"

Conrad did tend to be direct.

"I found something, or really I didn't find it."

Conrad raised an eyebrow and sighed. Bill was a good analyst, but there were times when he had trouble speaking in plain English.

"If you found something Bill, put it in a report." He said and gestured to the pile of reports on his desk.

Bill flinched slightly. "I think this is big Conrad and I'm not sure about security." He hated saying it, but what he found worried him like nothing in his life before.

"What would be so important in an analysis of transportation systems that a high level of security would be needed for?"

"Well, it…" Bill stopped talking, trying to figure out what to say.

"Spit it out. What did you find?"

"It's what I didn't find."

Conrad had to fight from rolling his eyes. "Bill…"

Bill couldn't help but fidget a little. Better just say it. "I can't find nearly half a million tons of steel."

Conrad blinked in surprise. "Half a million…?"

"Steel or pig iron used to make steel." He paused a moment. "And I think that's just part of it."

"Part of it? Part of what?" Conrad asked in a worried tone.

"Numbers aren't as solid, but I found discrepancies in aluminum, brick, wood, coal and over half a dozen strategic materials."

The expression on Bill's face told Conrad the bad news wasn't over yet. "You think there might be more?"

Bill nodded sadly. "Yeah. I would need a lot of people to nail down solid numbers, but it's clear something's up and it's big."

Conrad knew that Bill wouldn't be telling him this if he wasn't sure. What was going on here?

"Ok, Bill. Start from the top. How did you find this?"

Bill gave a short rueful laugh. "By accident. Was doing a case study on the efficiency of our railroads compared to that other nations and noticed something strange on a couple of trains shipping steel rods. When they started at the Abraham Steel works in Pennsylvania there were five flat cars carrying rods. When it got to the Avon Yard in Indiana, there were only two cars carrying the rods and three empty flat cars."

"Someone stole three cars of steel and no one noticed? That's a little hard to believe Bill."

"Not stolen. Taken off… somehow. That train didn't have any stops between Pennsylvania and Indiana. And there isn't a report of any steel being stolen."

"No report? If there wasn't a report how did you find out about it?"

"I was looking at CSX's records and noticed it by accident." Bill shrugged slightly. "They count cars, they don't compare what's in them so they never noticed."

"Could they be hiding the stolen steel out of embarrassment?"

"No. I checked other shipments and it happened at least seven other time last year. Discovered the same thing was happening with coal going to the Abraham works as well."

Conrad relaxed a little. "That's a few hundred tons of steel. You said half a million."

"The steel from the trains was only the start. I started taking a hard look at Abraham Steel and companies associated with it."

He frowned slightly. "And you found something more."

Bill's shoulders sank. "Yeah. At first all I found was a lot of front companies, shell corporations and dead ends. Finally got a break looking into international shipping. Some of the steel Abraham ships to other countries goes out an Panamanian flagged freighter called the Saltonstall. Looking through the records I found that on some of the trips the Saltonstall would leave with a full hold of steel and come back two months later dead empty."

"That is what they are supposed to do Bill."

"I can't find a record of the Saltonstall docking anywhere on these trips."

"You're saying that Abraham Steel is smuggling steel to someone."

"Yes. And they have been doing it for years, probably decades."

Conrad thought a moment. "If I remember, Abraham Steel refuses to sell anything to the United Stated government claiming they were afraid it would be used for weapons. Why would they smuggle steel and who would they be smuggling it to? It can't be the Soviets."

"Not the Russians." Bill agreed. "Abraham produces some of the highest quality steel in the world and gets top dollar for it. They don't need to smuggle anything to make a buck."

"So who, and why?"

"I couldn't figure it out either. Nothing made sense. All that steel, coal and other stuff going... nowhere. Then last Tuesday night I watching the TV and they had a program on the labor movement and that lead me to Columbia."

Conrad blinked. "Columbia? What would a bunch of drug lords want with all that steel?"

Bill chucked slightly. "Not Columbia in South America. Columbia the Sky City."

"Sky City?"

"Don't you remember your early 20th century history?"

"Oh, that Columbia. I always kinda thought of that place as a fairy tale when I was a kid."

"It was real enough. We have all kinds of documentation. Pictures, news stories and personal testimonies that it existed. Even a few people still remember seeing it. And the Chinese still hate our guts for what happened to Peking even after all the help we gave them against the Japanese."

Conrad nodded after a moment. "Nearly a half million dead and the city leveled. So how did a television program on the labor movement lead you to Columbia?"

Bill gave a brief smile at his boss. "It took a few steps. The program talked about the Great Steel Strike of 1903 and they had a few photographs of some the big steel plants around Pittsburgh at the time. I recognized one of them."

"Abraham Steel, right?"

"Right. But it wasn't Abraham Steel at the time. It was a division of Fink Manufacturing back then."

"Humph. Fink I remember reading about. The worst of the Gilded Age Robber Barons."

"Yeah. That's when I knew what to look for. It took some digging, but I finally found what I was looking for. Officially, Abraham Steel has been sold twice since 1904. But it was sold to what I believe to be front companies for Fink Manufacturing."

"Do you have any proof of this?"

Bill gave a short sigh. "No. It would probably take a full team of forensic accountants' years to try and dig it out. But my gut tells me it was Fink."

"How does Fink lead to Columbia?"

"Fink was the major contractor for Columbia's construction and moved most of his factories to the city before it vanished in 1902."

"But not all of it since he needed resources from the surface." Conrad guessed as he sat back in his chair with a thoughtful expression.

"Yeah. He also had a few companies that he owned large shares of and others he did regular business with. Even three years after Columbia vanished you could still find Fink products in stores from New York City to California."

"But not after that?"

"No. The federal government and even some states clamped down on businesses selling Fink's goods in an attempt to track where they came from. They never did. A lot of people didn't like Columbia or Fink for a lot of very good reasons. After that I'm guessing Fink slapped a new name on what he was shipping down from Columbia and no one caught on."

"It's been a long time since there has been any proof that Columbia is still up there."

"Not exactly. In the latter half of 1912 there were reports from the New England states, Maine mostly, of explosions in the sky and the recovery of wreckage and bodies. And that Songbird film of course."

"Columbia could have destroyed itself then."

"No. The wrecks were described as being airships, not whole buildings. The bodies they found were dressed in two different styles of uniforms. One with Columbian insignia, the others in all kinds of clothes, but all had large amounts of red on. Like it was some kind of badge or identifier."

"Some kind of civil war?"

"That would be the guess, but it's only a guess."

"So you think Columbia is still out there and they are building up resources for something."

"Yeah. And you can bet it's to move against us."

"Why so sure?"

"Columbia and their "prophet" had been looking down on the US government for some time and made it clear they thought we "betrayed" them in 1902. From what I could find on Columbia, the place was becoming more militaristic and racist by the month before it vanished."

Conrad rubbed his forehead. "You think there's any chance that they could have moderated since then?"

"If they did, they could have tried talking to us. They haven't."

"And they are building up a large stockpile of material for some reason." Conrad thought a moment. "Now I can see why you are worried about security."

Bill let the worry on his face show. "Columbia's hid itself from everybody for nearly eighty years and here they are moving around thousands of tons of cargo right under our noses. They clearly have a very large and very well-established network on the ground to support them. God knows where they have people."

Conrad pinched the bridge of his nose. This was a nightmare, an absolute nightmare. He looked up. "Did you tell anyone else about this?"

Bill gave a sad half smile. He knew what kind of mess he had just dropped into Conrad's lap. "You're the first."

"Don't tell anyone else. And you're sure that no one else picked up what you are doing?"

"Positive. I did a lot of the work off the clock. Most of the info I got about Columbia was from a library in Baltimore. I made sure I didn't leave a trail."

"Good." He sighed slightly. "Seems crazy to be worried about a flying city no one has seen in eighty years."

"A flying city that had weapons and technology decades ahead of it time. Who knows what they've developed since then? They could have stuff straight out of Star Trek by now."

"Thanks for putting my mind at ease Bill."

"Sorry."

"Ok, I want everything on my desk before end of day. And I mean all of it, copies of everything you have and sources. I think you found the tip of a very ugly iceberg Bill and I'm going to need to see everything before I go upstairs. I'll get you up to speed on where to go from here on Monday"

"Yes sir." Bill said as he got out of the chair. As his subordinate walked out the door Conrad realized it was going to be a very long, very bad Friday.

It turned out to even longer and worse a day than he thought it would be. Bill gave him the files and notes on Columbia less than an hour later and he stayed in his office reading it all.

It wasn't easy reading. Bill notes weren't the most organized and threads of evidence would jump around. But it was all there. Large amounts of steel, magnesium, coal, chromium, iron ore and more unaccounted for. He had included background on Fink Manufacturing and Columbia, though it was limited. There was speculations on how the technology used to make Columbia float could be weaponized, possible Columbian links to dozens of major corporations and what ways Columbia could strike at the United States were included as well.

It was nearly 9 PM before he was done. He sat back in his chair and rubbed his eyes as he thought. There wasn't a choice, this had to be dealt with and quickly. Conrad picked up the phone to arrange a meeting with his superior as soon as possible.

The first thing Monday morning when Conrad arrived was to tell Alice that he wanted to see Bill the moment he arrived and then he got to work. It was nearly 10 before he realized that Bill had yet to show up. He reached for his phone when a knock came on his door. A moment later it opened and Alice stood there looking a little confused. Behind her were two men in dark suits with visitor passes clipped to their pockets.

The taller of the two men had short dark hair and a plain face that seemed disinclined to show emotion. His partner was more interested in looking at Alice's ass than anything else. Being able to look was all he ever got as he had a face that looked like it belonged on a bull dog.

"Mr. Conrad…" Alice started to say when one of the men interrupted her.

"Thank you. We can take it from here."

Both men walked into the room and ugly one closed the door.

Conrad stood up. "Who are you and what are you doing here?" he all but demanded. People just did not do that sort of thing in Langley.

Both men reached into the pockets and pulled out wallets showing their identification.

"Special Agent Jack Davis." The taller man said before turning slightly towards his partner. "This is Agent Robert McConaughey. We're from the Federal Bureau of Investigation."

Conrad blinked. What was the FBI doing here?

Agent Davis continued after only a brief pause to let it sink in, but not long enough to start to plan anything. "We need to ask you some questions about Bill Drake. You're his supervisor, correct?"

Conrad was getting a bad feeling. "Yes, I'm his supervisor."

"Why don't you have a seat Mr. Peterford, this shouldn't take long." Agent McConaughey told him as the two agents moved to stand in front of his desk.

"How much do you know about Bill Drake? Have there been any problems with him?" Agent Davis asked.

"Bill? No, no problems. He's one of my better analysts. Is there something wrong?"

"Mr. Drake is dead." Agent McConaughey told him in matter of fact tone.

"He was killed during a break in at his home on Saturday night." Agent Davis explained.

"Bill's dead? What about his family? He had a wife and two kids."

Davis allowed his face showed a brief instant of sorrow. "All four family members are confirmed as being dead."

"My God. Why?"

Agent McConaughey kept his face impassive. "Robbery attempt gone bad." He shrugged slightly. "It happens."

"That's terrible. But why is the FBI involved?"

"Mr. Drake was an employee of the Federal Government so the local authorities contacted the Bureau." Davis told him as took a seat in the chair Bill had been sitting in just a few days before.

"Mr. Peterford, can you tell us the nature of the work Mr. Drake was engaged in here? Or if you can think of anyone who might wish to harm Mr. Drake or his family?" Agent McConaughey's eyes never left Conrad and he made no motion to take the other chair in the office.

"No, Bill was well liked here. I can't think of anyone who would want to hurt much less kill him."

Davis nodded slightly. "And what about his work. Is there anything in his work that might have brought him to the attention of certain… foreign powers?"

Conrad shook his head. "No, nothing at all. He was an analyst, not a field agent."

"And can you tell us what he was working on?" Agent McConaughey asked.

"Yes I can. He was studying transportation networks."

Both agents looked slightly surprised at his response. "Not everything here at the CIA is cloak and dagger."

Davis stood up. "I suppose not." He pulled out a card and put it on Conrad's desk. "If you happen to think of anything else, please give me a call."

"You can be assured I will." Conrad said as he watched the two agents leave.

After the door had closed Conrad started to smile. A small smile at first, but it grew to larger and full of joy.

It was as the Prophet had foretold so long ago. A threat to God's Plan had arisen here and as the Prophet had foreseen, it had been eliminated. Drake was dead and all the evidence he had gathered destroyed either by himself or other true Americans.

Soon now, the long wait would be over and the True Americans who had stayed in the Sodom Below to do the Lord's work would ascend to the New Eden.

"And The Seed Of The Prophet Shall Sit The Throne and Drown In Fire The Mountains Of Man." He recited solemnly before shaking himself. He needed to careful still. The Day had yet to arrive and much work still needed to be done before God's Fury descended from the heavens.

Conrad picked up the report he had been reading and glanced at the nine inch stack of reports still left to read. Better get to it, his was an important job.


End file.
